Odds of flat cam after engine flush?

[VadersV6]

I waited alot longer than I should have to change my oil, so I threw in a can of engine flush and idled the motor for 5 minutes, then drained everything out...it looks alot cleaner under the valve cover breather. When I drained the oil, it came out like water. This engine flush crap is really really thin. Basically kerosene and acetone. After about 4 minutes of idling I started thinking about the flat tappet cam and started to worry and shut it off. I threw in some Quaker state "Q" high rpm 20W-50 and a K&N filter. Usually after changing my oil, Ill check the level and the oil will look really dirty again cause I didnt get all the old oil out. Well this time the oil looks beautiful. So the flush did its job, but Im worried about what those 5 minutes of idling with water thin solvent in my motor may have done. Anyone lose a cam after using this stuff?

 

[SPOOLN]

I would just change the oil on a regular 2000-3000 mile basis. That way it will clean out any slug if there is any in the pan area. If you use synthetic oil you would not have any slug at all.

 

[TurboBuickSix]

That is bad stuff to put in a motor IMO you would be better off leaving the dirt where it is.

 

[conn84gn]

If it had the zinc additive in it you should by OK
I beleive Mistery oil has the zinc
I have used one can in the oil to clean the sludge out of a 122,000 GN motor No problems ( Stock Cam )

 

[VadersV6]

I dont know if it had zinc additive. Doubtful. Dont remember the brand name. Its a black plastic bottle. To be honest I dont even know how many miles I had on the filter and oil...way too much is all I know. I did top off the oil a couple times with straight weight 30 dino oil from the gas station. Things were starting to look bad in the valve cover which is why I used it. It does work though. usually the oil is so thick that it cant completely drain out all the old stuff, and whats left over pollutes the next batch. This stuff made the oil so thin that it drained completely. 100 miles on this new oil and it still looks clean.
By the way, I do use synthetic. Always have. Usually use Valvoline? SYN oil. In some independant real world testing where they drain every 1000 miles and do an analysis, it came second behind Amsoil. Mobil 1 was like 3rd or 4th place. Ive used Royal Purple in the past and loved it. Now that its available at Pep Boys, I think thats what Ill go back to using. I used to go 8000-10000 miles on RP and it would drain out looking clean. Used to do 7500 rpm shifts with 600hp on a stock block in the cobra when it was still cold and never had anything bad happen. Its chock full of happy additives...great for flat tappets. I did get a blended synthetic this time. Its the new "Q" line of oils. I chose the high rpm one cause they didnt have the full synthetic in 20W-50. They didnt have the Q racing oils though. The Q racing oils (drag racing 17.5W-35..., oval track, etc) have alot of zinc. Avoid any oil that has that star symbol on it like the plague, because those oils are the ones that have been drastically reduced in zinc and other helpful additives. The Q oils dont have that symbol, and they do have the good additives, but the Q "racing" oils have alot more.
Given the lack of lobe oiling at idle, and the fact this engine flush was like water, I was just concerned that I could have started the lobe wearing process.

 

[Sleeper1987]

No worries... used it many times over the years.